A dental orthosis, designed to increase the size of the upper airway by advancing the mandible, was used in 68 patients to treat snoring and varying degrees of obstructive sleep apnea. The orthosis increased the posterior airway space, as assessed by lateral cephalograms. Seven months (range 2 to 25) after beginning use, 75 percent of patients were using the orthosis regularly. Snoring, by repo...

Toe-in gait and crouch gait can make children with mild cerebral palsy fall and suffer improper balance during walking or ambulation training. A customized external strap orthosis for correcting leg alignment was used to resolve this problem. The purpose of this study was to research the immediate effects while wearing the customized external strap orthosis. Pressure platform was used to assess...

Several cervical spine braces and orthoses were evaluated for their compatibility with imaging in the MR scanner. Nine such devices were investigated: EXO cervical collar, Philadelphia collar, S.O.M.I. cervical orthosis, Guilford cervical orthosis, modified Guilford cervical orthosis, PMT halo cervical orthosis, modified PMT halo cervical orthosis, Bremer halo system, and Bremer MR-compatible h...

Background The mainstay of the conservative treatment still remains the orthosis, which was demonstrated to provide a reduction of curve progression, possibly a decrease in the need for surgery, and sometimes a correction of the existing deformity. The effectiveness of the SpineCor orthosis compared with the natural history of the disease has already been shown for milder and moderate curves[1].

BACKGROUND In post-stroke hemiparetic subjects, solid polypropylene ankle-foot-orthoses are commonly prescribed to assist in foot clearance during swing while bracing the ankle during stance. Mobility demands, such as changing walking speed and direction, are accomplished by accelerating or decelerating the body and maintaining dynamic balance. Previous studies have shown that the ankle plantar...

OBJECTIVE To compare walking energy cost between an anterior and a posterior ankle-foot orthosis in people with foot drop. DESIGN Within-group comparisons. PARTICIPANTS Twenty-three adults (14 women, 9 men; mean age 56.8 years (standard deviation 15.4)) with foot drop. METHODS PARTICIPANTS were asked to walk for 5 min at their self-selected walking speed under 3 conditions: (i) with shoes...

Dear Editor, Low back pain (LBP) is one of the common disabling conditions experienced by individuals through the world and the lifetime prevalence of LBP was reported about 84%. A type of LBP which occurs in the absence of an identifiable cause, is called non-specific LBP. Non-specific LBP is managed conservatively by physical therapy and in many cases by applying orthosis. A wide variety of o...

Background: Breast implant displacement or rupture can cause aesthetic problems and serious medical complications. Activities with prone positioning and loading of the anterior chest wall, such as massage, chiropractic or osteopathic therapies may increase the risk of implant failure and can also cause discomfort in women with natural breast tissue. Here we test the effectiveness of a newly dev...

OBJECTIVE Five styles of commercial static wrist extensor orthoses were compared to determine whether any style, or styles, afforded better power grip strength or finger dexterity. Because wrist extensor orthoses are intended for use during functional tasks, their influence on hand function is of great importance. METHOD Twenty-three right-hand-dominant women without upper extremity dysfuncti...

BACKGROUND Botulinum toxin is commonly used to treat spastic equinus foot. This treatment seems to improve gait in hemiplegic patients when used alone or combined with an ankle-foot orthosis. However, the nature and effects of this improvement have until now rarely been studied. The aim of this study was to quantify the impact of a Botulinum toxin injection in the triceps surae of hemiplegic pa...